Buttons
by Pikapox
Summary: Tony notices the buttons on Bruce's shirt, and Bruce knows how to push all of Tony's buttons. Bruce/Tony.


A/N: Just some silly Bruce/Tony fluff, because I had a writing itch. I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Button-down shirts, Tony decides, were invented for the express purpose of being abused by Bruce Banner. Every single day, a different button-down with a different pastel hue hangs loosely on his shoulders, top two or three buttons (or four, on a particularly good day) carelessly undone. He doesn't bother to tuck in his shirts anymore, not since he became a full-time employee of Stark Industries and a full-time resident of Stark Tower.

Other button-down shirt abuses came in the form of spills, cuts, and tears—typical laboratory hazards, although Tony would never have guessed Bruce was so clumsy. At least once a month Tony had to skitter frantically across the lab to help Bruce out of his shirt because it was on fire or being eaten through by a very powerful chemical or the subject of one of Dummy's misguided attacks. (Tony thought it would be funny to program Dummy to attack pink things, so okay, maybe that was more Tony's fault than Dummy's. Honestly, it was mostly Bruce's fault because he wore a pink shirt in Tony's lab.)

Luckily, fire and noxious chemicals and wayward robots were not enough to incite a big green freak-out, so Tony and Bruce continued on their merry way—their days more playtime than business-time. Pepper frequently reprimanded them for snickering over MythBusters-esque experiments instead of actually working. Bruce would look a tad guilty, and Tony would throw his hands up at both of them and mutter something about genius taking time.

It was one of those particularly good days when Bruce walked into the lab with his shirt practically hanging off, the four top buttons forgotten and exposing a big triangle of his chest. Tony almost snorted when he saw.

"Going for the Superman look, Banner? I think you forgot to put your spandex on."

Bruce gave him a suspicious look, "… I'm sorry?"

Tony hopped off of the counter he was perched on with a roll of his eyes and trudged over to Bruce.

"Your chest," he said, poking Bruce's sternum, "This isn't 'Doctors Gone Wild,' as intriguing as that sounds."

Bruce chose to ignore the comment and followed Tony's gaze to his chest, and yeah, his shirt was a little too unbuttoned. He was just about to offer an explanation when Tony took the opportunity to flick him in the nose, like a little boy being mean to his crush.

"Too easy," Tony joked. "I don't think I've done that since middle school."

"Good to know that working with me brings out your inner middle schooler," Bruce said evenly as he buttoned up his shirt, but his voice was lined with amusement.

"You aren't angry, are you? I don't like you when you're angry."

"Very funny, Tony."

"I know," Tony said with finality, "Now stop distracting me, there's work to be done."

Bruce thought briefly that it was a really big accomplishment, to be able to distract Tony from his work. He shook off the idea with a little smile, slid into a white lab coat, and followed Tony to the work tables.

* * *

"I'm not… this is a bad idea, Tony," Bruce says, although his hands make no attempt to remove themselves from the stainless steel work table—keeping Tony neatly pinned between his arms and only inches from his face.

"No, I don't think so," Tony says carelessly as he pulls Bruce back in for another heated kiss. "This is a good idea," he continues, his words crushed against Bruce's lips, "This is a fucking _great_ idea."

For a few seconds Bruce allows himself to agree, to get swept up in the charm that Tony Stark has been laying on him—let's be honest here—since the day they met. His hands move to grab at Tony's hips and Tony swats them away so he can shove Bruce backwards against the wall and now _Tony's_ the one that's got Bruce pinned.

"You did that on purpose," Bruce observes blandly, while Tony enthusiastically kisses down his jawbone. Tony nods into Bruce's neck and bites—lightly, but it's just enough to make Bruce's protests die on his tongue.

Their mouths meet again, and this time it's sloppy, desperate, Tony's jagged fingernails digging into Bruce's upper arms and Bruce's fists clenching and unclenching anxiously against Tony's back. Bruce feels a familiar ripple of aggression, a _warning_, radiate from the pit of his stomach all the way to his fingers and toes. He breaks away.

"I have to go," he says, but Tony grabs a handful of his shirt. "Don't," he orders. "I know what's happening. I know you don't _have_ to go." Tony's eyes are daring him to make one more move towards the door, and he is resolute like he knows something that Bruce doesn't.

Bruce gives Tony one long apologetic look and walks across the lab like nothing happened, hanging his lab coat neatly in its place before vanishing into the hall.

Tony doesn't stop him, but for the next hour he spins on his stool while thinking of biting things he should have said while Bruce was leaving. He grows increasingly bitter about the whole mess.

* * *

One week of awkwardly dancing around each other in the lab and getting an astonishing amount of _actual_ work done gets Pepper's attention, and of course as soon as she steps in the lab she becomes hyperaware of the fact that Tony and Bruce had a make-out session that went miserably wrong.

Tony was honestly taken aback by how much she pieced together just from watching them for a few minutes.

"You're going to make him have an _incident,"_ she accused, as soon as Bruce was out of earshot. "You need to apologize."

"Apologize? He's the one that walked out, Pep," Tony said.

"Because he didn't want to have an incident!" she exclaimed, and she really could have hit him.

"Please, he can control the Hulk and he knows it, he's just… scared of change, or something," Tony said, pinching the bridge of his nose between his eyes. Pepper just looks at him, her face set in that way that effortlessly illustrates that she knows that Tony knows he's making excuses.

"Stop looking at me like that, Pepper. It's complicated. Bruce likes being sad."

"You disgust me, Tony," she said, but it was soft with affection.

"It sounds so much better when you say it like that. Why didn't you say it like that when you dumped me?"

She groaned and left without another word.

A few minutes later, Bruce returned with a sandwich and a mug and sat down in an unused corner of the lab to eat his lunch.

"Laboratory Safety 101," Tony said, "No food in the lab."

Bruce ignored him to take a bite of his sandwich. He chewed neatly and said, "Did Pepper talk to you?"

"Uh, yes."

"Did she tell you to talk to me?"

"Yeah, um," Tony began, "You two are eerily similar."

Bruce smiled a bit, in a way that seemed like it was mostly to himself. "How is that?"

"You just know things about people. Me, in particular. Maybe you're both just spectacularly good at assumptions. Maybe you're both magic. That actually wouldn't surprise me."

Tony was flustered. He was rambling.

"I figured you were going to say that it's because you've kissed both of us."

"That's what Pepper would have said. I think that lends credence to my theory."

"You're right," Bruce agreed, but Tony could sense the hint of sarcasm bubbling there, "That is eerie."

Bruce took a few more bites of his sandwich and Tony eventually made his way across the lab to take a seat next to him.

"So is this how you apologize?" Bruce asked.

"This is not apologizing," Tony said, denying it emphatically, "If I were apologizing, you'd know it. Actually, you wouldn't, because I never do that."

"Sure," Bruce said, and he was so calm and collected that it was maddening.

"Well, I would like to apologize for… running out on you last week," he continued, slowly like he was mulling over each word. "I felt him, the other guy, and I panicked."

"But you can control him," Tony interjected.

"And that's a relatively new development," Bruce said with just an edge of impatience. "I'm still learning, so… be patient with me."

He held out the other half of his sandwich for Tony, a symbol of peace. Tony took it and asked what kind it was.

"Chicken salad," Bruce replied as he took his last bite, "Thanks for the apology."

"You're welcome," Tony said absent-mindedly as he took a bite, and his eyes snapped up to glare at Bruce when he realized what he'd said.

Bruce smiled and reached a hand out to touch Tony's arc reactor, and Tony inhaled sharply and hoped he'd soon have a reason to put down the sandwich and do something more interesting with his mouth. He looked down, saw Bruce's fingers trailing over his t-shirt—

Bruce flicked him in the nose. "Too easy," he said.


End file.
